Board OKs revocation of school names

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Friday, April 23, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.

What's in a name? A lot, the Clark County School Board said Thursday.

Board members approved a new regulation that would allow them to revoke a school's name if the namesake were convicted of a felony or a crime involving "moral turpitude." The school name could also be rescinded if the name became associated with "illegal, lewd, amoral or violent activity" that might reflect poorly on students, staff or the district at large.

Board members first began looking at the district's naming policy last fall when Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, found himself at the middle of the state's double-dipping scandal. An elementary school is named after Williams. The School Board was informed by its attorney that no policy existed for revoking a school's name.

Williams' name was never mentioned at the meeting, and there was no discussion of whether any school should have its name changed. Several school board members have said they haven't heard much from the public about changing the name of Williams Elementary.

School Board member Sheila Moulton said Thursday she has given serious consideration to recommending the district only name facilities after people who are dead -- a practice common in many other communities. Moulton said she hasn't done so because she knows how much benefit schools derive from the involvement of their living namesakes.

"I think about the Bill Moores out there," Moulton said, referring to longtime district teacher and administrator William Moore, for whom an elementary school is named. "I think about the great, wonderful individuals who come back and give so much to their schools and their communities."

Without singling out any individuals, Clark County Schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia urged the board to keep the potential for controversy in perspective.

"It doesn't mean we haven't had a successful program of honoring our living heros," Garcia said. "It's like calling off the school dance because one kid causes a problem."

The new regulation also contains a tribute of sorts to Isaac Perez, a 21-year-old custodian killed after being kidnapped at gunpoint from the elementary school where he was working in the evening hours. The School Board will now be allowed to approve naming schools after former employees in extraordinary circumstances, such as "loss of life in the performance of service to benefit or support" the school district.

Family and friends of Perez had campaigned unsuccessfully to have a school named after him. Under the prior regulations a person had to be an an educator, pioneer or prominent citizen in order to be considered for an elementary or middle school name, said Dusty Dickens, director of zoning and demographics who helped draft the change. High schools are named after geographic landmarks rather than individuals.